Michele Reyzer – The National Wildlife Federation Bloghttp://blog.nwf.org
The National Wildlife Federation's blogSat, 17 Mar 2018 14:10:57 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.4139259312Throw a Ranger Rick Halloween Party!http://blog.nwf.org/2014/10/throw-a-ranger-rick-halloween-party/
http://blog.nwf.org/2014/10/throw-a-ranger-rick-halloween-party/#respondWed, 22 Oct 2014 14:08:24 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=101099As one of the editors for Ranger Rick magazine, I get to create lots of kid-friendly crafts and recipes. Since autumn is my favorite time of the year, coming up with fun activities for Halloween is the best part of my job!

If you’re throwing a Halloween party this year, here are some of my ideas for spooky snacks and creepy decorations. All of them have appeared in the pages of Ranger Rick, and they’re frightfully easy to make, too. Go ahead and click on the images below—if you dare!

Gruesome Specimen Jars

Turn your old jars into specimens for your mad lab this Halloween–if you have the guts!

Eerie Egg-Carton Eyeball Cups

Here’s a fun and eye-opening way to recycle your cardboard egg cartons.

Creepy-Crawly Spiders and Egg Sac

Be sure to warn your party guests about this decoration if they suffer from arachnophobia!

Batty Branches

Your friends will go batty when they see this fly-by-night Halloween decoration!

Frightful Finger Cookies

This is the kind of “finger food” your party guests will definitely want to try!

Pumpkin Shake with Bat Straw

This pumpkin concoction is delicious–and healthy!

Tortilla-Chip Pumpkins

Don’t these jack-o’-lantern chips look gourd-geous?

Spooky Spider Snacks

]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2014/10/throw-a-ranger-rick-halloween-party/feed/0101099Celebrate National Frog Month with 10 Frog-tastic Activities for Kidshttp://blog.nwf.org/2014/04/celebrate-national-frog-month-with-10-fun-activities-for-kids/
http://blog.nwf.org/2014/04/celebrate-national-frog-month-with-10-fun-activities-for-kids/#commentsThu, 10 Apr 2014 07:25:03 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=94065Did you know April is National Frog Month? Frogs are amazing amphibians, and they should be celebrated! Need inspiration? Then check out these 10 frog-tastic activities you and your kids can enjoy all month long. Go ahead and click the images below—hop to it!

1. Observe frogs in a pond.

Finding frogs in a nearby pond and observing them through their life cycle is fascinating fun!

2. Play frog hopscotch.

Enjoy a froggie version of hopscotch!

3. Make a frog mask.

Pretend to be a frog and catch tasty bugs with this frog mask!

4. Tell friends some froggie funnies.

They’ll “croak” up when they hear these ribbiting riddles!

5. Learn 6 fun facts about treefrogs.

Sure, you know a frog when you see one. But can you recognize a TREEfrog?

6. Join Ranger Rick on a frog adventure.

Help Ranger Rick and his friends solve the missing frogs mystery!

7. Play frog games and puzzles.

These amphibian games are TOADally awesome!

8. Create a colorful frog.

9. Make a tasty watermelon frog prince.

Your friends will JUMP for joy when they see this fruit-filled frog!

10. Turn an avocado into frog guacamole.

Save the Frogs!

Frogs are in trouble. There aren’t as many of certain species as there once were, and a few kinds have gone extinct. But you can help them by participating in Save the Frogs Day on April 25. Go to savethefrogs.com to learn more.

Have you ever wondered who takes the incredible photos that appear in the pages of Ranger Rick magazine? Joanna Pinneo, of Boulder, Colorado, is one of our very talented photographers. She loves to travel the country in search of compelling stories to photograph. And that’s exactly what she did for us this past year.

Joanna hit the road again just a few weeks later and joined a family on their shrimp boat in southern Louisiana, photographing the bayou life of fishing, boating, and alligator-watching. Then she spent a week in the Colorado Rockies, photographing the International Snow Sculpture Championships in the bitter cold.

“The Coolest Show on Earth” from the December/January 2013 issue

For these amazing photos, we named Joanna the winner of this year’s Ranger Rick Photographer of the Year award. This award is given to the photographer who best advances the magazine’s mission–to inspire in kids a greater understanding and love of the natural world, and a lasting commitment to environmental stewardship–with exciting, informative, and spectacular eye-popping photos.

Joanna doesn’t just shoot pictures on these trips. She gets to know the wildlife, the natural surroundings, and the people in each of her stories before she ever reaches for her camera. Add Joanna’s great photographic eye, and you get a fantastic story every time.

“Bayou Kid” from the August 2012 issue of Ranger Rick

“Joanna is a true Ranger Rick trouper. She will trek for days by foot or horse to keep up with the kids. Regardless of the mud, insects, heat, snow, cold, or rain mother nature has in store, it never stops her from finding the photo that will tell the story for the Ranger Rick reader,” says Mary Dalheim, Editorial Director of Ranger Rick and Ranger Rick Jr. magazines at the National Wildlife Federation.

Congratulations, Joanna!

]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2013/05/joanna-pinneo-named-ranger-rick-magazine-photographer-of-the-year/feed/080642Simple Holiday Crafts to Make With Your Kidshttp://blog.nwf.org/2010/11/simple-holiday-crafts-to-make-with-your-kids/
http://blog.nwf.org/2010/11/simple-holiday-crafts-to-make-with-your-kids/#commentsThu, 18 Nov 2010 14:00:18 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=97430Instead of braving huge crowds and never-ending lines at the mall, head outside this holiday season! Take the kids to an outdoor area and have them “shop” for the supplies for three simple (and inexpensive!) nature crafts. You’ll get some fresh air AND you can check some people off your holiday gift list!

Note: You’ll need to pick up a few supplies at the craft store if you don’t have them at home.

Highlights:

Twig Picture Frame

1. Break the twigs into small pieces. (Grownups can use pruning shears if the twigs are too thick to break by hand.)

2. Apply glue to a section of the frame. Press some twigs onto the glue. Keep adding glue and twigs until you’ve covered the frame.

3. Once the glue has dried, you can decorate the frame with pine cones, seeds, or any other treasures you’ve collected on your walk.

TIPS:

If you don’t have much time or patience, you can use a hot-glue gun instead of Tacky glue. It’ll speed up the drying process. (But please be cautious if the kids are nearby because glue guns can get extremely hot.)

Use twigs from different kinds of trees to give your frame interesting colors and textures.

The straighter the twigs, the better. They will lie flat on the frame and will be easier to glue in place.